Crash And Burn
by Zentauria
Summary: [Probending Circuit - Round 4] What's scarier than fire? Fire that lives! - Kai learns the hard way that the Spirit World is not as nice as Jinora claims, and that nothing is the way it seems. Absolutely. Nothing.


**Probending Circuit - Round 4 | Happy early Halloween, I guess?**

 **aka Worst Fears Come True, aka Can The Topics Get Any Harder/Weirder After Round 3? - Yes They Can!**

 **Seriously though, I'm no fan of horror. Or, to be more precise, slasher movies and the like. Not because I'm easily scared, but because I'm easily nauseated. If anything, I'm the psycho horror type. Like in, well, Avatar. Azula is magnificient. Korra's PTSD is really well done, too. I think the world needs more psycho horror!  
**

 **Team: Laogai Lion Vultures**

 **Position: Firebender**

 **Prompts:**

 **Easy: (dialogue) "Why are you over there?"**

 **Medium: (character) Kai**

 **Hard: (quote) "Fear is only as deep as the mind allows."**

 **Word count: 3500 (Yup, I fought to stay within the word limit. Hard. Extremely hard.)**

* * *

"Ready?"

Kai breathes deeply and laces his fingers through Jinora's. "Ready!"

He can hardly believe he's going to enter the Spirit World for the first time. He'd tried meditating into the Spirit World before, but this side of airbending never came as easily to him as the physical side. Then along came Kuvira, who exploded a Spirit Portal right into the middle of Republic City. Korra and Asami called dibs for their honeymoon alias vacation, but now the two women are back and there is no reason to stave this trip off any longer.

Equipped with only their wingsuits and some snacks, the couple steps through the portal and arrives at a meadow, or at least that's what Kai would call it. The flowers are pink with blue stems, the bare trees are a reddish gold, and in the background... Are those mountains or icebergs? The meadow has an overall dark feel (the twilight is probably a factor), but the surreal colors compensate for it, leaving Kai in pure astonishment.

"Wow..."

Jinora, though more used to the Spirit World than her boyfriend, appears only slightly less awed by the sight. "I never knew about this part of the Spirit World."

"Let's check it out!" Kai whoops, breaking into a run, but he only manages three steps before Jinora calls him back. She sounds uncomfortably far away. Kai turns on his heels and wrinkles his forehead. He's pretty sure his strides aren't _that_ long.

"Why are you over there?"

Jinora's groan carries all across the meadow, which is weird. "Because the Spirit World messes with your perception of distance!" she yells back and jumps, landing smoothly at Kai's side. "And I _told_ you about it!"

Her explanation does ring a bell, and Kai chuckles awkwardly. "Right, sorry."

Jinora sighs. "You're impossible."

"And you love it."

The comment earns him a punch against his arm, Jinora's suppressed laughter, and a kiss on the cheek. Kai is fine with that.

"Come on, you brainiac. There's a lot more to see."

The two airbenders unfold their wings and take off, staying close to each other so they won't get lost. They fly over the icy blue mountain range, cross a bright orange stream with what looks like a red catgator resting on the olive sands of the riverbank, and a forest of silver-leafed trees. A giant bat squirrel with yellow markings greets them, and while Jinora remains completely unfazed and greets the spirit back, Kai almost drops out of the sky.

The spirit starts chatting with them, and it turns out that she has a daughter who moved to Republic City. The couple promises to say hello if they ever meet her, and the bat squirrel invites them to have some nuts with her. Kai sends Jinora a questioning glance, silently asking if it's possible to eat in the Spirit World. Jinora shrugs uncertainly and politely declines, but the spirit doesn't seem offended. She accompanies them until they reach the edge of the woods, where she wishes them a good day and disappears among the trees.

"Now _that_ was something different," Kai comments as the couple lands on a rock shaped like a coltsfoot leaf for a break. Or maybe, he ponders while buttoning his wings to his torso, it's a very huge, very hard rock-colored leaf of coltsfoot. He isn't sure anymore. "How come that spirit could talk while Bumju only chirps?"

"I don't know, actually," Jinora admits with a distant look on her face. Then her eyes clear and she smiles. "But we can try and find out. Maybe we can write a guide for the Spirit World together."

Kai sends her a funny look. The idea sounds tempting, but there is one little catch. "We can try and find out together, but you do the writing. I can buy the paper or something."

"Deal!"

And that's decided. Kai doesn't really believe they'd pull it off, but if they did... They just set themselves a life task. Still, Kai can imagine worse things than exploring the Spirit World with Jinora and documenting what they've seen.

"You know, we should start right now. But first, I could do with some of Pema's macaroons."

Jinora rolls her eyes in mock annoyance. "Why am I not surprised?"

They sit and Jinora procures a small package from her wingsuit. She unwraps it and places the macaroons on the ground between herself and her boyfriend, ready for snacking. Kai eagerly pops one into his mouth, savoring the sweet flavor of sugar and almonds.

"Best macaroons ever!"

"I know, right?" Jinora laughs, then they fall back into silence, content to simply enjoy each other's company and some good food.

They're about halfway through when Kai's ears pick up on a hissing sound. He looks around, but there's nothing to see.

"You hear that?" he asks, but realizes the question is superfluous when he turns back at Jinora and notices that she's tilted her head, listening intently.

"That doesn't sound like a friendly spirit," she says, a hint of alarm in her voice. "Maybe we invaded someone's territory. We better get out of..."

A surge of heat erupts between them and Kai does an involuntary somersault. Then reflexes honed from years of practice kick in and he comes up in a fighting stance.

He doesn't like the sight that greets him: a kite-shaped flame half his size is floating in front of him, coals for eyes and white-hot embers for teeth. And it's not the only one – there's a whole bunch of them circling the couple's resting place, crackling and hissing. By now, Kai can even make out individual words.

 _Humanssss!_ they say. _Tassssty!_

Jinora calls his name, but it hardly registers. Kai's mind is not on the coltsfoot ledge anymore. It's stuck in another place, another time.

 _Tasssty!_

Kai's at the Northern Air Temple again, heat exploding in his face. Only a wooden staff and a way too thin layer of air between him and fiery death.

 _Humansss!_

He sees his parents again, charred and unmoving, buried under pounds of blackened timber. Fire took them from him, _ate them up._

They had told him to run. So he does. Blind, not caring where his feet carry him. He trips and doesn't even realize it. He simply rolls back to his feet and keeps running until a cliff bars his way.

The sudden stop jolts him back to awareness and he braces a hand against the steep blue rock, panting and dazed.

He left Jinora behind. Left her with the fire spirits. How could he? He should have stayed and fought by her side, sacrificed himself if need be. He's done it before. What's gotten into him?

His knees buckle. Fire took his parents. If it takes Jinora too, he'd never forgive himself.

Desperation turns into fury. His hands fly over the buttons of his wings and he's up in the air, eyes scanning his surroundings. But this technicolor countryside looks completely unfamiliar. No sign of Jinora. The Spirit World itself seems to be plotting against him, playing tricks on his mind. Gravity stops making sense. A waterfall comes out of nowhere, but instead of getting wet, Kai crashes into a tree. The branches tear his wings. He plummets to the ground and the impact knocks the air out of his lungs, cutting his mad cruise short.

He doesn't bother with getting up. Jinora is gone, he's hopelessly lost and his wings are useless shreds.

"Jinora..." he sniffs. His voice sounds off, but he blames it on the headache. Tears well up in his eyes, and he lets them flow. Who cares anyway? What's left to do apart from curling up right here and waiting for some spirit monster to claim him as an afternoon snack?

Something connects with his shoulder blades, something warm. He blinks the tears away and looks up.

What he sees shakes him to the core. He scoots away, utterly horrified. He sees _himself_ – lying under the tree, wingsuit ripped and bruised body limp. Like a corpse.

And then he's running again, stumbling through the black underbrush, unable to call upon the air for support. It doesn't help his frayed nerves; he keeps running until the woods clear and the ground under his bare feet turns to mud. He catches on a root hidden inside the clammy mass and faceplants right into a puddle.

He sits up in the shallow water and wipes his face. He hit a swamp or something. Ocher-colored mist wafts around him. The gnarled roots of the thick reddish trees are exposed, the ground which protected them washed away.

But the spookiest part is his reflection in the water. The boy staring back at him is wearing a sand-colored tunic and brown pants, his short hair is partly gathered in a green headband, partly sticking to his chubby face in wet, untamed strands.

Kai recognizes the outfit from the day he lost his parents, the day he lost everything he had. He's six years old again, alone, hurt and scared.

He climbs onto the nearest dry spot, a huge brown lily pad, and weeps. For his parents, for Jinora, for Ikki and Meelo, Mako and Bolin, for everyone he loves, for everyone he'll never see again. He never should have come to the Spirit World, this hostile, nasty place. What he'd give to get out of this nightmare...

He cries until he has no tears left and his desperation is replaced by an empty indifference. Numb, Kai crawls to the edge of the lily pad and splashes some water into his face. It's fresh, clear and cool, and sends some new energy through his body. He can't sit around moping forever. It's not his style. This body is a vile reminder of an incredible loss, but he picked himself up once. He can do it again.

So what if he's lost? He's a drifter by nature. He doesn't need a destination. And he'll find Jinora, no matter what.

He grins at his reflection. After so much crying, it looks pathetic, but it's a start. He climbs to his feet, tired of staying on the ground – and finds himself nose to nose with a bear. He stumbles backwards, trying to sort his limbs into a defensive stance, but his small body doesn't obey. He slips, booking yet another crash-landing. The black-and-white bear leans forward and Kai flinches, sliding across the lily pad until he plops down on the other side and resigns himself to becoming spirit lunch after all. The water restricts his movements too much.

But he won't go down without a fight. If the bear wants Kai, it'll get a bloody nose for free!

Or not. The bear simply pushes his totally non-bloody nose against Kai's chest and the boy is sprawling in the muck again, a heavy paw pushing him down. The bear roars. And for some reason, it sounds more amused than aggressive.

"Har har, yes," Kai complains. "The struggle of this baby human must be real amusing."

Well, at least he's retained his attitude. That surely counts for something.

The bear leans in again and nuzzles Kai's face as if looking for something, but it doesn't seem interested in eating him. Maybe it's benevolent.

"Sorry, I don't have all those spirity powers like Korra or Jinora. But I think I understand. You can help me, right?"

The bear makes a rumbling sound and takes his paw off Kai's chest to let him stand. Grinning, Kai complies, finally optimistic about the outcome of this ordeal. "I'll take that as a yes. May I ride you?"

The black-and-white spirit rumbles again.

"Awesome!" Kai cheers and hops onto the bear's neck. "Let's find Jinora!"

On this hulking great animal, Kai didn't expect his ride to be so fast and smooth. It couldn't have taken the spirit more than five minutes to leave the swamp, cross a meadow, two mountain ranges and a desert before reaching another meadow where a desperate Jinora is running from spirit to spirit, asking for her lost boyfriend.

An overwhelming relief rushes through Kai. She's alive! Alive and unharmed! "Jinora!"

He doesn't wait for the bear to stop moving, he slips off and throws his arms around her waist. He's so short he barely reaches her chest, but he has more important things to think about.

Jinora apparently didn't expect to be tackle-hugged by a six-year-old. "Kai?" she wonders aloud, but before he can react, she's hugging him back. "Kai! I was so worried!"

"Me too..." Kai mumbles against her stomach, voice feeble from shame. He pulls away and stares at his bare toes. "I'm sorry for running off. I shouldn't have left you alone with those spirits. I don't know what came over me, I..."

"It's okay," Jinora snaps Kai out of his apologizing frenzy. With an encouraging smile, she kneels down to his eye level and ruffles his hair. "It's okay to be scared."

Kai curls his lips into a pout. "Jin, just because I _look_ like a six-year-old doesn't mean you need to treat me like one."

Jinora giggles. "Sorry. But you're so cute! I've never seen you with a full head of hair before. Or a headband."

"Leave my headband alone!" Kai whines, then buries his burning red face in his hands. "Oh, monkey feathers. I really _am_ a six-year-old..."

"Don't worry Kai, we'll figure this out. It happened to Korra, too."

"Korra?" Kai repeats incredulously. "She left her body, too?"

Jinora inhales sharply. "Left?"

"I panicked, okay?"

"Kai, where _is_ your body?"

Jinora's reaction is decidedly unsettling. Kai wracks his six-year-old spirit brain, trying to remember details of his heedless escape. "A black forest, near a swamp. The bear..."

Kai turns around, but the bear is gone. Figures. He couldn't even thank him.

"What does it mean for me? The leaving-the-body thing? You do it all the time, right?"

"Yes, but I _return_." Jinora is massaging her temples. "A body without a spirit can't survive for more than a few days. We need to get you back into your body or you won't be able to return at all."

"You mean, I'd be stuck like this?" Not a pleasant prospect. Being a six-year-old is bad enough. Being a six-year-old trapped in the Spirit World without bending is way beyond Kai's tolerance threshold. "Then what are we waiting for?" He grabs Jinora's arm and pulls, only to remember that he has no idea where to. He hisses with frustration, just about ready to restore his undercut _manually_. This place really is in serious need of a mapmaker, though by now, Kai is positive this mapmaker is not going to be him. "Spirits, this is crazy!"

"Now, now, child, that's not a word you want to use as a curse."

Both Jinora and Kai turn at the new voice. A man pops up at their side, hair white and face wrinkled from age, but with a twinkle in his eyes.

"General Iroh!" Jinora blurts out, and Kai looks at her quizzically.

"Why would General Iroh be an old man in the Spirit World?"

He gets a giggle in return. "Not _that_ Iroh. This is Lord Zuko's uncle, the Dragon of the West."

"The guy who besieged Ba Sing Se?"

The smile on the man's face loses some of its serenity. "I suppose that's what a boy from the Earth Kingdom would remember about me."

Kai's face reddens and he bows his head. Curse his de-matured butterfly mind! "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense."

"None taken."

"I'm so glad you're here!" Jinora cuts in, the relief evident in her relaxed shoulders. "We need help to find Kai's body. I don't know why, but he somehow split from it and now..."

Iroh doesn't even appear to be worried. "Then you'll be happy to hear that a friend of mine just brought me the body of a teenage boy. In fact, I've been trying to find the lost spirit who belongs to it." He sends Kai an amused smile. "Nice to finally meet you, Kai. You've changed quite a bit."

Kai rolls his eyes, he's in no mood for small talk. "Can we just get my body back, please? I'm sick and tired of being a weak-willed brat with no self-control."

Jinora laughs. "You're not so bad, Kai. Believe me, Meelo was way worse."

"Seriously, Jin? You're comparing me to _Meelo_?"

She grins and, ignoring the question, takes Kai's hand. "Come on! Let's get your body back."

She nods at Iroh, who leads them to a cottage standing in the middle of the neon-green meadow. A table occupies the space in front of the door, some spirits seated around it. They're the weirdest assortment Kai's ever laid eyes on – two of them look like a frog couple, another one could be an onion, and yet another is a weird dragon-fish-mix. They're engaged in what appears to be a heated conversation, but Iroh simply calls, "No need to worry anymore, our young friend has been found!"

The argument fizzles out in a general sigh of relief. Then a new spirit appears from the cottage, a bright orange, vaguely human figure.

Kai lets out a startled cry and jumps behind Jinora. The figure is on fire – no, it's _from_ fire! It's a living fire creature, like those kites!

"What a relief!" it calls and runs towards the three humans. Kai's terrified mind slowly starts to register the fact that the spirit doesn't seem hostile, and he suddenly feels ridiculous hiding behind his girlfriend. He steps out of Jinora's shadow, but he's not quite ready to stand beside her. Better to hang back a little.

When the spirit arrives, it turns its coal eyes directly at Kai. His breath hitches, but the spirit surprises him with a deep bow.

"I am very sorry for scaring you! I should have kept a closer eye on my children! Please be lenient with them, they didn't mean any harm."

At this point, something snaps inside Kai. An unmindful parent he can deal with. Rambunctious children, too. But all this hissing and exploding, and _they didn't mean any harm?!_

"Are you kidding me?! They surrounded us and said 'tasty humans'! They were trying to eat us!"

"I assure you, they had no such intentions."

"Then why...?!"

"Kai!" Jinora scolds and the rest of Kai's rant catches in his throat. Jinora sighs. "They didn't say 'tasty humans'. They said 'tasty' _and_ 'humans'. Because we're humans, and we had tasty macaroons."

Kai stares at Jinora, jaw slack and eyes glazed. That's it? All this misery because of _macaroons?_

The sheer absurdity leaves Kai thoroughly dumbstruck. Not that there is anything appropriate he could say...

The fire spirit straightens and turns his head at the table. "Children!" he calls out. "What did Daddy tell you?"

And there they are, floating into view from behind the table. Six, seven, eight of them. If a bunch of fiery kites can look ashamed, this one does.

"Ssssorry!" one of the kites hisses, and the rest follows suit. Except for the smallest one, which goes, "Macaroonsss?"

Iroh grins. Jinora facepalms.

And Kai breaks. The tension, the anger, the terror, the desperation – it all fuses into a bombshell of hysteria and explodes in a gale of slightly manic laughter.

"Oh fissures..." Kai pants, hands on his knees. "Oh fissures in the holy earth, this is insane." He heaves a calming breath and straightens, taking in the worried looks he gets from every direction. Better move on before anyone gets the wrong idea.

Kai finally steps forward and bows. "Apology accepted."

He doesn't get the chance to look up. Some kind of force tugs at him and the next time he blinks, he's staring at a wooden ceiling, a splitting headache driving the air out of his lungs. He sits up from the cot he finds himself on and rubs his forehead, his whole body burning from various cuts and scratches. Wait... _His body!_

The pain forgotten, he bounces out of bed and rushes through the open door, out into the sunlight.

Jinora is running towards him with the same enthusiasm. Kai doesn't hesitate to catch her waist and swing his lithe girlfriend around, reveling in his reclaimed strength.

Iroh walks up to the overjoyed couple, smiling as usual. "You see, Kai, fear is only as deep as the mind allows."

Kai grins and faces the baby fire spirits swirling happily around them. He's still not fond of fire, but those spirits definitely taught him a valuable lesson today. A lesson about things not being as bad as they appear. Sometimes, it's just a simple misunderstanding.

"Now, who wants some tea?"

* * *

 **Fun fact: the German word for fear is Angst. Yes, _the_ angst.**

 **The task Alys set is "I want you to write me about the worst fear of any character of your choosing coming to life." Not sure how literally she means that, if there's a point deduction if the fear doesn't manifest in physical form. But even if there isn't, at least it gave me the idea with the spirits. My personal headcanon is that Kai's parents died in a fire, because _all_ parents die in a fire as far as Avatar is concerned. So it would make sense that living fire is... uncool. Yup, pun unintended.**

 **Anyway, I'll re-write this as soon as the competition is over. This is an idea for at least 5k. There is much more potential to use! Especially more Iroh!**

 **And now for some life story. Feel free to skip this, but a funny thing happened between last round and this one: I've been getting some patronizing alias "complementary" reviews from a guest who made very clear how much they hate Kai. Why they click on stories with Kai as character tag then will remain forever a mystery, but if there's something you can't curb, it's trolling. So I ranted to my teammates a little (read: a lot) and misszeldasayre joked about asking Alys to include Kainora into the prompts for next the round, just for the sake of flooding the fandom with Kai stories. She did _not_ pull it off for real, but you can imagine the general amusement when Kai DID show up in the prompts.  
But I guess that particular guest is still getting their kicks out of the round. So far, Kai's only been used as food.  
Still three stories to go with the kid, and I'm a little concerned about turning out to be the only one who doesn't kill him in a horrible, nasty way. *sigh* Excuse the paranoia, but did I mention I'm no fan of horror? I could rant on and on about it. But I won't. People can like what they like, and dislike what they dislike. If you like horror and painful nasty deaths, go ahead. But don't expect me to come round.  
**


End file.
